Magic

In the 1800s, “Consumption” was the common name for tuberculosis, a widespread and deadly disease with the notable symptom of coughing up blood. In the modern era, “consumption” is a common name for what Americans do for fun. We consume food, media, and various products, all of it in excess, and much of it not very good for us. We snack on industrial waste, stare at screens depicting other people’s suffering with near-addictive fascination, and accumulate brightly colored but poorly made plastic items in staggering quantities.

Most Americans also work ridiculously hard, because the Puritan work ethic has driven work culture since the first white people stood on American dirt.

This is an excerpt of an article I wrote on Medium in April, 2025.

A wise person once said, “we do not describe what we see. We see what we describe.” You may also have heard the expression, “where attention goes, energy flows.” Our minds and our hearts and our bodies have incredible power to create our reality. We can choose what we consume — whether it’s food or information. We can choose to turn off the news. We can choose to redirect our attention away from what is causing us pain, and instead seek out sources of beauty or joy. We can intentionally let go of our obsession with things we can’t control.

This doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. If a flower can break its way up through concrete, you can choose to look at that flower instead